University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, December 29
St. Paul, Minn.
7:00 p.m. Central
5-8,0-3Summit League
56
vs
58
South Dakota
7-7,3-0Summit League
1
2
3
4
F
South Dakota
10
12
23
13
58
St. Thomas (MN)
16
8
10
22
56
Team Stats
SD
UST
FG%
.417
.391
3FG%
.333
.278
FT%
.733
.750
RB
26
32
TO
16
20
STL
11
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
Photo by: Collin Boyles
Last second free throws spoil Summit League home opener for Women's Basketball
12/29/2022 9:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball
St. Paul, Minn. -- Thursday's Summit League home opener for St. Thomas Women's Basketball was spoiled during the final seconds of a 58-56 loss to South Dakota. The Tommies overcame a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit to lead with 14 seconds left before a shooting foul on a 3-point attempt allowed the Coyotes to prevail.
The Tommies drop to 5-8 overall and 0-3 in the Summit League after closing the game on a 17-5 run. St. Thomas shot 54.5 percent from the field over the final 10 minutes to score 22 points while limiting South Dakota to 18.2 percent with seven free throws, including the final three to seal the game.
Maggie Negaard kicked off scoring for St. Thomas with back-to-back 3-pointers, giving the Purple a 6-2 lead 2:35 into play. Alexis Pratt followed with a layup while Jo Langbehn sank two free throws to close a game-opening 10-2 run.
After converting a basket to open the second quarter, the Coyotes forced the Tommies to miss their next three field goals and forced two turnovers to draw within one, 18-17. Negaard and Sammy Opichka made back-to-back layups to end the run before South Dakota closed the first half with five straight points and a 24-22 St. Thomas lead.
The game began to separate out of halftime as South Dakota went on an 11-0 run, sinking 5-of-7 from the field and limiting St. Thomas to 0-of-3 shooting with three turnovers. Lamker scored her third basket of the game just before another USD run kept the deficit around 10 heading into the fourth quarter.
South Dakota sank its only two field goals, both 3-pointers, by the 5:39 mark in the fourth quarter before the final St. Thomas run. Opichka followed with her second 3-pointer of the game as she and Jordyn Glynn each scored five points over the remainder of the game.
The Purple defense held South Dakota to 0-of-6 shooting with four turnovers, including an unforced inbound turnover with 19 seconds to play coming off a free throw by Alexis Pratt to draw within one, 55-54. Pratt inbounded to Opichka who converted a layup for the first St. Thomas lead since halftime. On the ensuing possession, USD was given three free throws off a foul.
Opichka lead the team with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 2-of-3 behind the arc, while she also led with five rebounds and a career high five assists. Negaard followed in scoring with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
The Tommies shot 39.1 percent from the field (18-46) and 27.8 percent from 3-point range (5-18) while the Coyotes shot 41.7 percent from the floor (20-48) and 33.3 percent from long range (7-21). St. Thomas won the rebound margin, 32-26, but gave away 20 turnovers to South Dakota's 16.
St. Thomas closes out its conference home-opening series at 1 p.m. Saturday with the first of two season matchups against South Dakota State.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Women's Basketball, follow along on Twitter and Instagram at @TommieWBBall
Join Us
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2022 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.
The Tommies drop to 5-8 overall and 0-3 in the Summit League after closing the game on a 17-5 run. St. Thomas shot 54.5 percent from the field over the final 10 minutes to score 22 points while limiting South Dakota to 18.2 percent with seven free throws, including the final three to seal the game.
Maggie Negaard kicked off scoring for St. Thomas with back-to-back 3-pointers, giving the Purple a 6-2 lead 2:35 into play. Alexis Pratt followed with a layup while Jo Langbehn sank two free throws to close a game-opening 10-2 run.
After converting a basket to open the second quarter, the Coyotes forced the Tommies to miss their next three field goals and forced two turnovers to draw within one, 18-17. Negaard and Sammy Opichka made back-to-back layups to end the run before South Dakota closed the first half with five straight points and a 24-22 St. Thomas lead.
The game began to separate out of halftime as South Dakota went on an 11-0 run, sinking 5-of-7 from the field and limiting St. Thomas to 0-of-3 shooting with three turnovers. Lamker scored her third basket of the game just before another USD run kept the deficit around 10 heading into the fourth quarter.
South Dakota sank its only two field goals, both 3-pointers, by the 5:39 mark in the fourth quarter before the final St. Thomas run. Opichka followed with her second 3-pointer of the game as she and Jordyn Glynn each scored five points over the remainder of the game.
The Purple defense held South Dakota to 0-of-6 shooting with four turnovers, including an unforced inbound turnover with 19 seconds to play coming off a free throw by Alexis Pratt to draw within one, 55-54. Pratt inbounded to Opichka who converted a layup for the first St. Thomas lead since halftime. On the ensuing possession, USD was given three free throws off a foul.
Opichka lead the team with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 2-of-3 behind the arc, while she also led with five rebounds and a career high five assists. Negaard followed in scoring with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
The Tommies shot 39.1 percent from the field (18-46) and 27.8 percent from 3-point range (5-18) while the Coyotes shot 41.7 percent from the floor (20-48) and 33.3 percent from long range (7-21). St. Thomas won the rebound margin, 32-26, but gave away 20 turnovers to South Dakota's 16.
St. Thomas closes out its conference home-opening series at 1 p.m. Saturday with the first of two season matchups against South Dakota State.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Women's Basketball, follow along on Twitter and Instagram at @TommieWBBall
Join Us
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2022 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.
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